


In the vast and dark space…

by Clara_Jimmy



Series: Starilion [3]
Category: TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works & Related Fandoms, The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Elves In Space, F/M, First Age, Implied Sexual Content, Nan Elmoth, Spaceships, and lasers!, it´s not as dark as it could be
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-20
Updated: 2020-07-20
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:15:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 3,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25407487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Clara_Jimmy/pseuds/Clara_Jimmy
Summary: Will Íreth manage to find her way back from the strange secluded station?
Relationships: Aredhel/Eöl (Tolkien)
Series: Starilion [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1837912
Comments: 1
Kudos: 4





	1. Off we go (Íreth)

They set out just as the scenery screens brightened and changed to light blue, pink and yellow, an early sun rising behind soft airy clouds. Equally soft sounds were coming from the speakers; shallow wind and birdsongs. Íreth was glad to put that behind her as she strolled towards the hangar.

What was drawing Íreth was the vast space beyond their city, the glimpses of which she could see only trough the small windows that lined the outermost sphere. Almost nobody was allowed to venture that far from the core of the city. And the commoners would never get even to the second gate. But what she saw fascinated her; the cosmic darkness, the scattered systems that looked only as tiny lights, but felt like a promise of great and unexplored things. Of life she could witness, cities she could explore. She was reminded of when they lived in Vinyamar, or by Mithrim when all of them were together. Fuck, she really missed those times. Careless and free to go anywhere she wanted. The years in Gondolin had been enough for now.

Her excuse was to go see how Fingon was doing. And while she missed her brother, she would much rather spend her time with her more interesting cousins.

Predictably, Turgon insisted on someone accompanying her and she was sort of lucky because he chose her friends, but also unlucky because it would be easier to get rid of some random strangers.

The password confirmed, the diode on the door turned green and the huge door slid open and she could see the great hall with all of their ships. She found her own and also Ecthelion, already waiting and adjusting the locks on his boots. She checked her own. Finally she could put on her space suit, boots and helmet and get her hands on the control handle and feel more like herself. She also checked the laser gun fixed to her thigh.

“Hoping we won’t have to use that,” Ecthelion spoke, coming to stand beside her.

“Wouldn’t it be that bad?” she asked jokingly, “a bit of action, some practice?” He laughed.

“Come to the practice station them,” he replied, “I don’t need any practice, my aim is impeccable. But getting out of Gondolin is good- Ah, the rest of our team is here!” Ecthelion waved and Íreth turned to watch Glorfindel and Egalmoth approach them. Both of them seemed excited to go on the little trip as well.


	2. Inside of the dark nebula (Egalmoth)

He couldn’t see a damn thing. The dark clouds were everywhere and several alarms had appeared on his light screen. And the computer was malfunctioning as well; not responding to commands, turning on functions Egalmoth didn’t ask for. He was struggling to pilot the ship and keep his course and he was on edge because there could be anything hidden in the darkness. And any information from his companions? It had been almost half an hour since he had last heard Glorfindel and any messages he had tried to send had never reached any of them. Egalmoth wanted to pull himself together and not panic, but it was a hard job. 

“I can´t see anything,” he said, “Glorfindel? Can you hear me?” Nothing. After a moment of silence and then some rustling sounds still nobody answered. Egalmoth looked at the light screen again. Glorfindel was apparently still to his left and quite near, Íreth was ahead of them, and Ecthelion was to his left as well, but in the lower levels of the nebula.

“Íreth? Íreth, can you hear me? This is Egalmoth,” he spoke and waited. Nothing.

“Fuck, damn it,” he mumbled and tried the third channel. A loud crackling noise of electric current combined with thunder filled his head and he cringed. 

“Ecthelion?! Can you hear me?!” he screamed into the intercom despite feeling hopeless. As presumed, nobody replied, and he hurried to shut it off, his head was already starting to hurt from it. But suddenly, there was another sound, the beeping of an incoming call and then the rustling and electrical hissing. And a female voice.

“…are you… hear any…,” Íreth said, her ship and her name blinking on the light screen in white.

“Íreth? Do you hear me, Íreth?” Egalmoth asked, anxious, waiting for any broken piece of a word.

“…you, Egalm… so I will just… place… get out of...”

“We should try to stick together. Together, I repeat, together,” he spoke quickly, “please slow down Íreth, you are flying too fast.”

“…has to end…hear me, E…,” her voice became quieter and then got lost completely in the sizzling. Egalmoth waited for anything else, but even after several minutes, there was nothing. He tried sending a message again, but it didn’t work.

“Fuck, fucking, damnit,” he grumbled and checked the location of Ecthelion and Glorfindel. At least, they were all still there and he had enough fuel and air. But then he noticed Íreth. His anxiety reached a new level as he watched the cursor labelling her ship disappear out of his range. Fuck.


	3. The crash (Íreth)

Nothing. There was nothing on her light screen. But the asteroid and the station were right there. And fuck, she had to land somewhere or she would be dead!

Íreth managed to take some control over her ship once again, broke through the protective field, the dark clouds and more or less crashed it on the surface, making the black rock chip on impact and fly in all directions. Finally out of the nebula and the storm, she breathed out in relief. A few moments later she checked the state the ship was in and the atmosphere outside. She had to leave because the machine was just broken right now; the coat and the motor were in dire need of repair, and so she had to find a solution somewhere on this asteroid. Everything outside was hidden in some dark clouds or vapours and unsurprisingly, the air on the asteroid was not breathable. She detected an alarming amount of nitrogen and mercury, plus some unknown chemicals. But luckily, her suit, along with the oxygen generator, was completely fine. So she gathered the most vital supplies and proceeded to leave the ship.

She remembered seeing a possible station and began walking swiftly towards it and while there was still nothing on her computer, she structure appeared after a while. It was all black, just like the asteroid, and built into the rocky cliff. She took a deep breath, preparing for what she might find there. If that damned thing had a protective invisibility field she was an intruder here. Unfortunately, it was either this or die outside so fuck it. When she got a lot closer suddenly a beam shot at her, making her halt. The beam of red light scanned her, covering the surface of her white suit, but couldn’t pierce it and after a minute a group of dark figures emerged from the building and rushed her inside. Íreth followed, her hands raised in surrender. She needed their help, after all.

When she got inside it was completely dark except for a few diodes on the walls. The people, whoever they were, motioned for her to move and she was escorted into another dark room and locked up. She cursed and sighed again, this time in annoyance. Probably quarantine. As she waited, she thought about her possibilities and how the fuck she ended up on a piece of damned rock. She wondered if Ecthelion, Glorfindel and Egalmoth would look for her and find this location. Most likely not, given the obscurity of this place and her instructions to let her go. She had planned to evade them, but not like this. But Ecthelion and Egalmoth knew nothing of her deal with Glorfindel and all could be very persistent. Anyway, she would get out of here on her own, she would repair her ship and would be flying off in no time.

Suddenly, the red diode on the door flickered, the door opened and in stepped another dark figure. But this one had only a partial head cover and she could see that it was an elf. All dark. The suit, the cape that hid half of the face, the long hair that peaked from underneath the fabric. The person´s features were interesting; lean face with sharp angles and eyes so dark she guessed they had had them enhanced. Overall, she found them rather attractive, in a strange way. But not welcoming, as the expression she was met with was cold and blank.


	4. In the dark (Íreth)

“Yes, I can see you are one of them,” Eöl once again made it clear he disliked the Noldor, including her.

“Look, I was not supposed to be here, and I am eager to leave as soon as possible,” Íreth replied, “there´s just the issue of my ship, which got badly damaged in the storm and upon landing.”

She tried not to frown and give away her true feelings. She had disliked him from the beginning. No matter how alluring he was as well. Eöl was just bad news. He was hiding a lot from her, was almost hostile and for some reason wanted to make it hard for her to leave. Then there were his equally sketchy employees or servants. And the entire facility was dark, from the walls and appliances to the lack of lights. Only a few white or red diodes blinked at her from a few spots. She could see of course, but it was disturbing. Íreth felt like she and her belongings were the only lights things present on the entire asteroid. Her white suit and the helmet on the desk radiated a little in the darkness. She bitterly remembered her confiscated laser gun and that her ship was waiting for her.

“I would like to purchase the spare parts from you so I can repair my ship and leave,” she told him, “trust me, I will pay you accordingly.”

“We don’t have such parts here,” he replied, but Íreth was doubtful.

“Then I would like you to arrange a transport to some city,” she said and them quickly added, “what are the closest settlements around here?” She had asked a couple of times but she still didn’t know where exactly she was. She had been heading for Himlad and so the Fëanorian territories should be near, as should Doriath. 

“Ah, that´s going to be tricky to arrange,” he replied, looking remorseful, but she doubted he was being honest. Manipulative, secretive, shady. That´s how she would describe Eöl´s character. Clearly, he had been conducting some kind of illegal and dangerous business of this piece of fucking rock. She had not seen much of the station and had been refused to see its plan. But she had gathered enough to guess he had a science facility here. She could hear the sounds of machines, heavy tools and materials being broken and used. That probably meant weapons. And that made alarms in her mind go off. There was only one war that mattered and in the end everyone sided either with them or with Morgoth. 

“Please try to arrange it despite it,” Íreth spoke, faking a nice tone, “I would be grateful. I have no desire to spend more time here and I am sure you want me out of your hair as well. As I´ve said, I can pay for the service.”

“I am not in need of your money. But I will help you get where you were travelling.” He smiled a little oddly, which made his face fascinating and attractive, but not friendlier.


	5. Searching (Ecthelion)

“You´re not proposing just abandoning the search?!” he asked, his voice rising in shock, “I am not returning to Gondolin without her!”

“No, no, Ecthelion,” Glorfindel said, “just this part of space. We can look elsewhere and have a better chance.”

“To be honest we know nothing about these parts so the chances are pretty much similar,” Egalmoth said. Ecthelion took a look on the little diagram in the corner of the light screen, again seeing areas he didn’t recognize. And no sigh of Íreth´s ship´s signal. That meant she wasn’t there or that the ship along with her had been obliterated...

“I´m just saying returning to the nebula would mean our deaths and we don’t know where the storm took Íreth, but if she´s with the Fëanorians she´s fine so we can focus on looking for her in other, possibly more dangerous areas. If she got out somewhere around the T sector, you know where she is likely heading,” Glorfindel said.

“Aha, so you just want to avoid them,” Ecthelion said bitterly, “I really-““That is unimportant,” he cut him off, “I´m just saying she could be in danger somewhere else, she´s likely fine if she´s with them.”

“Hm, there is some truth in that,” Egalmoth spoke, “but I still think we should spend more time here. The Fëanorian territories are not that close after all.”

“No, we have to move on to where we haven’t searched at all yet. We´ve been here for how long? We continue searching sector C-5 and then C-6 and then D and E and keep sending out calls to Íreth. Agree?”

“No, I don’t agree with you,” Egalmoth said. Ecthelion was grateful for his fellow voice of reason, but could feel it wouldn’t change anything. “But we have to search somewhere and bickering won’t solve it.”

“Ecthelion?” He kept silent and tried to calm down. After a moment Glorfindel asked more carefully, “Ecthelion, do you copy?”

“Yeah, I suppose so... You´re in command...,” he mumbled.

“Then it´s settled, follow me,” Glorfindel said. After a moment the computer beeped with an incoming message and the diagram was enlarged to reveal a more detailed map. Ecthelion could see a route in the right sector appear there.


	6. A chance (Íreth)

Trying to stay awake proved to be a little difficult. She wanted to make sure he was truly asleep, so she had to wait a long time. Plus, the fuck was good so Íreth herself would gladly just lie down and rest. He was attractive, despite everything else, she had to admit Eöl´s only good quality. 

She had spent months in this dark place with no change. Dark cabins, stations and corridors, a few odd red lights. Suspicious eyes and evasive answers. Nutritional drinks she could never call food. Tension. Boredom. And more darkness. And she had thought being locked in Gondolin had been bad. She has even started to wish her escort would show up, or anyone for that matter, so she could use them to get out. Alas, Íreth understood she only had herself to rely on. So she had decided to use one of the oldest and most efficient tricks. She had gotten straight to the point and he hadn’t even asked for an explanation. She supposed he was confident his looks alone made her make a move on him.

After what felt like a century Íreth crawled from the bed, tip toed over the room while picking up her clothes and then was finally in the corridor. In no time she was gathering her few things from her cabin and marching towards the remote hangar. The stolen chip served her well with all the doors, but once she showed it to the control desk in the ship there was no response.

“Fuck,” she muttered under her breath. Her collected patience was just barely holding on. She needed to be out of this damned place already. It had been interesting at first, although unwelcoming and definitely dangerous. But she had never liked it and the months she had been forced to stay only made it worse. Íreth was ready to punch Eöl and his group of servants or possibly tear her own hair out. She used her own computer and fiddled with the ship´s. After a while the controlling panel lit up, lights flickering and beeping loudly. Several random functions started at once.

“Fuck, shut the fuck up,” she grumbled. At that moment two figures ran into the hangar and towards her. 

“Get out of that ship!” They pulled out their laser guns.

“Fuck off!” Íreth shouted and quickly focused on closing the ship´s entrance. Too late. They got inside, shouting and pointing the red beams at her. Nobody tried to seize her so she used the opportunity to get a control over the ship, but there was only so much she could do with the unfamiliar and stubborn system. In the end, more servants appeared, as did Eöl, and Íreth had to stop. She sighed in defeat, abandoned the ship and stepped down onto the dark concrete floor.


	7. An unexpected arrival (Eöl)

He didn’t want to kill her. He couldn’t just let her leave. She knew of Nan Elmoth and of its location and she probably guessed enough of what they were doing here. Eöl couldn’t risk it. He knew she would bring her people back. And they had no right investigating here and caring about his research and business. He only allowed a few of his business partners a glimpse of his activities. Which was difficult since the Dwarves were not satisfied with mere weapons, of course they tried to get to the process of making them. And the cursed Golodhrim were even worse. Invaders, self-righteous and overestimated.

Weeks passed and he still wasn’t sure how to resolve this troublesome situation. He had never had anyone get in the way of his plans and life for such a long time. If it was someone sent by Elu Thingol he would simply kick them out or if it was one of his servants he would just kill them. But he couldn’t do either with Íreth. If she just decided to stay and keep out of trouble that would be perfect. Except she was stubborn, over-privileged and never took no for an answer. And demanded to leave, of course.

Their relationship had been abrasive from the beginning. And he had wished to just kill her and be rid of her presence and inquiries. Yet her status meant it wouldn’t be without consequences. The rest of them would come to Nan Elmoth and destroy everything. 

Weeks and months passed. Eöl despised the position he was in. His work and slow peace had been broken. Íreth was unnaturally bright, from her white suit to her piercing eyes, and it annoyed him to look at her for too long, not to mention speak with her. He had been stunned when she came to his bedroom, but too lustful and careless to reject her. Which he should have done as she had been using him, of course.

First shock was discovering a Golodh crashing her ship here. Second her seducing him. Third one using him and trying to steal his ship. And finally, the fourth one, the pregnancy. He supposed they were going to have to live in Nan Elmoth together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Golodh is a Noldo, Golodhrim the Noldor, in Sindarin.
> 
> And I hope you liked it!  
> Let me know if there are any mistakes (I´m tired right now).

**Author's Note:**

> Íreth is Írissë in Sindarin, aka Aredhel.


End file.
